Interesting comments from Lynn Collins on the "Pixar process" and John Carter

Lynn Collins, who plays Martian Princess Dejah Thoris in the upcoming Disney/Pixar “John Carter”, directed by Andrew Stanton, had some interesting things to say about the movie which quite frankly are among the most encouraging words that fans of the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels have heard.

“I’ve seen bits,” she told us when asked about how much of the movie she’s seen. “I think that there is a story that’s about to be told that hopefully people will latch onto in an emotional, visceral, physical way. I just think it has so much to offer and Andrew Stanton is just one of the best storytellers we have out there. Pixar is very specific and I think they have their process and Disney is really allowing them to have their process, so things are coming out slowly.”

It’s interesting to come across this comment the day after a TV spot was released that, for the first time, begins to forge the emotional connections among the characters and between the characters and the audience that were somuch a part of the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ original. (See Dear Disney Trailer Team).

The thing is — the books turn completely on John Carter’s love for, and protection of, “the incomparable Dejah Thoris” — but there were also strong relationships between John Carter and Tars Tarkas, and between John Carter and Woola. I wasn’t sure about the way Woola was being depicted in the previous trailers, but I should have releaxed — this is Pixar, after all, and Woola is perfectly in Stanton’s wheelhouse. Now that I’ve seen the “Woola steadfast” moment in the TV spot, I’m beginning to see the possibiliies of what Stanton may have been able to do with this secondary character. And there have been hints of the John Carter – Tars Tarkas relationship previously.

I’m still worried, though, about the cental relationship — John Carter and Dejah Thoris. The trailers and spots thus far have een remarkably devoid of any scenes of real intimacy between JC and DT, and the depiction of Dejah Thoris is quite a bit more in the direction of “warrior Princess” than was the case in the books. I get the need to update Dejah a bit and layer in the “warrior” to the “princess” — but has something important been lost in the process?

Collins’ comments, while they don’t allay the concern entirely, do give a lot of encouragement that when it is all finally unveiled, a movie worthy of Burroughs and satisfying to his followers will be revealed. Here’s hoping.

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